Google just got ZAGAT Rated! — “Did you know there's a place in Menlo Park near the Safeway that has a 27 food rating?” one of my friends asked me that about two years ago, and I was struck because I immediately knew what it meant. Food rating... 30 point scale... Zagat. And the place... had to be good.

Google acquires Zagat, enters original content business — Google on Thursday acquired Zagat in an effort to bolster its local products with the restaurant rating service. More notably is that Zagat is a content company. — In a blog post, Google said that Zagat will “be a cornerstone of our local offering.”

Carol Bartz exclusive: Yahoo “f—ed me over” — Here is what Carol Bartz thinks of the Yahoo (YHOO) board that fired her: “These people f**ked me over,” she says, in her first interview since her dismissal from the CEO role late Tuesday. — Last evening, barely 24 hours …

Arrington out at AOL (for real this time) — Not TechCrunch editor. Not AOL Ventures employee. Michael Arrington is on his own. — It has been a very long week for AOL. And it's about to get even longer. — Last Thursday, word leaked that one of its employees …

Whither TechCrunch? — The media has had a lot of fun over the past week watching AOL, Huffington Post, TechCrunch, and Mike Arrington figure out how to move on. I feel badly for the TechCrunch crew including MG, Erick, Sarah, and many others. They are awesome at what they do and I feel …

One hundred million voices — Five years ago, Twitter came to life when @jack sent the first Tweet to his seven followers. Now, 100 million active users around the globe turn to Twitter to share their thoughts and find out what's happening in the world right now.

Twitter CEO Dick Costolo's “State Of The Union” Address — 100 million active users. 1 billion tweets every seven days. Plans to grow the ad business. These stats and facts are part of a “State Of The Twitter” talk Twitter CEO Dick Costolo gave to the press today. Live blogging below!

Apple sues Samsung in Japan over patents: report — (Reuters) - Apple is suing Samsung Electronics in Japan, accusing it of patent violations relating to the iPhone and iPad, Kyodo news agency said, the latest salvo in a series of patent battles between the two firms.

Suppliers of iPhone 5 supply chain gearing up production — Suppliers in the iPhone 5 supply chain in Taiwan have geared up production recently with volume shipments of the new Apple smartphones to begin soon. Production of iPhone 5s at OEM maker Foxconn Electronics has reportedly reached 150,000 units per …

Samsung, Microsoft tie up for new tablet — South Korea's Samsung Electronics has teamed up with Microsoft to make a new tablet computer powered by the US software giant's latest operating system, according to a report. — The Korea Economic Daily, citing an industry source …

Amazon cuts deal on California sales taxes — Legislative leaders agree to let the online retailer delay collecting taxes for a year, while it would drop its battle to overturn the state law. Gov. Jerry Brown has not said if he will support the plan. — “It's a safe harbor for up to a year …